[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S420-S421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 13--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
 NEED FOR CONGRESS TO ENACT A NEW FARM BILL DURING THE 1ST SESSION OF 
                           THE 107TH CONGRESS

  Mr. DASCHLE (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
Baucus, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. 
Dorgan, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Conrad, Mrs. Carnahan, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Kennedy, 
and Ms. Stabenow submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:

[[Page S421]]

                               S. Res. 13

       Whereas in contrast to the economic prosperity enjoyed by 
     Americans over the past several years, many agriculture-
     dependent rural economies have continued to experience 
     serious economic hardship;
       Whereas independently owned and operated farms and ranches 
     that are integral to the economic and social stability of 
     rural America, but that are relatively less able to withstand 
     economic shock, have suffered disproportionately during this 
     period of ongoing economic distress;
       Whereas the contract payments authorized by the 
     Agricultural Market Transition Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) 
     increasingly are considered by producers to be inequitable 
     because--
       (1) the contract payments are not based on current 
     production, but are instead based on 85 percent of program 
     yields established in 1986 and frozen in 1990;
       (2) the contract payments are provided to owners and 
     producers that may no longer be producing the crop on which 
     the contract payments are calculated;
       (3) the contract payments are not available to producers of 
     nonprogram crops, including soybeans and other oilseeds, 
     resulting in further inequities and arbitrariness in making 
     emergency farm payments;
       (4) the contract payments are not available to owners and 
     producers that did not enter into production flexibility 
     contracts under the Agricultural Market Transition Act; and
       (5) the contract payments are made for crops regardless of 
     whether the crops are experiencing low prices;
       Whereas despite being promoted as a means of limiting farm 
     program spending, current farm policy necessitated record 
     levels of program spending and emergency assistance packages;
       Whereas the previous record of $26,000,000,000 in direct 
     payments through the Commodity Credit Corporation for fiscal 
     year 1986 during the heart of the farm crisis in the 1980's 
     was eclipsed by direct payments made for fiscal year 2000 by 
     nearly $6,300,000,000;
       Whereas even at these high levels of farm program and 
     emergency spending, the farm economy and the financial 
     condition of farm and ranch families and rural communities 
     continues to decline;
       Whereas agricultural producers are extremely frustrated and 
     dissatisfied with the inconsistent criteria for receipt of 
     disaster payments, the unpredictability of the payments, and 
     the inequity of the payments across producers, regions, and 
     agricultural commodities; and
       Whereas over the past 3 years, Congress has waited until 
     well into the legislative year before considering and 
     responding to the need for disaster payments and then has 
     justified the use of unnecessarily simplistic and fiscally 
     wasteful payment formulas by claiming that there was 
     inadequate time to devise superior alternatives: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That Congress should--
       (1) enact a new farm bill during the 1st session of the 
     107th Congress;
       (2) include in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2002 
     sufficient funds to provide an adequate farm income safety 
     net and eliminate the need for off-budget, emergency 
     spending;
       (3) ensure that all farm-related payments are allocated 
     fairly and reasonably and in relation to need; and
       (4) provide such additional sums as are necessary to fund 
     other farm bill priorities, such as priorities involving 
     rural development and telecommunication, conservation, 
     research, nutrition, and food safety.

                          ____________________